Wed, Nov 28 2018, 11:16 AM
New home sales were expected to make a strong showing in October; the consensus of analysts polled by Econoday was for a sharp increase from the Septe...
Wed, Nov 28 2018, 9:27 AM
This morning's chart looks complicated at first glance, but it's actually very simple. It doesn't even matter if you're familiar with candlestick cha...
Wed, Nov 28 2018, 8:52 AM
Sorry for the length of the commentary today, but there’s a lot going on. In most of the U.S., the 2019 maximum conforming loan limit for one-unit pro...
Wed, Nov 28 2018, 8:14 AM
Even though the week was shortened by the Thanksgiving holiday MBA's Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage application volume, managed a 5.5 p...
Tue, Nov 27 2018, 5:54 PM
Volume may be picking up for the bond market following the typically quiet Thanksgiving trading week, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the move...
Tue, Nov 27 2018, 4:47 PM
Mortgage rates avoided returning to reality yet again today. In other words, rates were almost perfectly unchanged for the 4th straight business day. ...
Tue, Nov 27 2018, 1:05 PM
Given the rapid run-up in home prices over the last year, it's no surprise that loan limits will also be going up in 2019. The Federal Housing Finance...
Tue, Nov 27 2018, 11:28 AM
The views about the direction of home prices diverged slightly in September, as those reported in the S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller indices slowed for th...
Tue, Nov 27 2018, 9:33 AM
Oil prices are always interesting to consider when it comes to bond markets. After all, oil is a major cost input for the economy. Even the "core" i...
Tue, Nov 27 2018, 9:02 AM
Will today or tomorrow bring the 2019 Freddie and Fannie loan limit change announcement? Stay tuned, as it usually released soon after Thanksgiving. I...
Tue, Nov 27 2018, 8:18 AM
Mortgage delinquencies spiked in the September "first look" report from Black Knight, but that was followed by a swift reversal in October. The compan...
Mon, Nov 26 2018, 4:39 PM
Most of today's bond market movement followed a single trade in the morning hours. Someone with deep pockets bought a lot of 2yr Treasury debt and ...
Mon, Nov 26 2018, 3:59 PM
Mortgage rates began the post-holiday week by holding the same sideways posture seen last week during the slow market days surrounding Thanksgiving. G...
Mon, Nov 26 2018, 11:34 AM
"Possibly the only thing worse than a world in which homeownership doesn't work as a wealth-building tool is a world in which it does work as a wealth...
Mon, Nov 26 2018, 9:14 AM
Markets will be getting back into the swing of things (probably slowly) today after the Thanksgiving holiday. As we discussed excessively last week, ...
Mon, Nov 26 2018, 9:01 AM
I want a free vacation! I want a free fancy car in the garage in my newly-built McMansion! Apparently, due to sagging sales, with some builders I can ...
Fri, Nov 23 2018, 2:59 PM
Mortgage rates were every bit as flat as expected today. That's a good thing at the moment, considering we're holding in line with the lowest levels i...
Fri, Nov 23 2018, 10:08 AM
The share of loans that were for refinancing and those where borrowers opted for adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) both ticked up in October , with the...
Fri, Nov 23 2018, 9:11 AM
I could go on and on about why it makes so very little sense for today to be a business day and for Thursday to be the official Thanksgiving holiday...
Fri, Nov 23 2018, 8:53 AM
"Why is it that when the CDC warns us to not eat romaine lettuce, we take it as gospel. But when the CDC tells us that vaccines save lives, we think t...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 5:46 PM
Bond markets have a habit of getting progressively more quiet heading into Thanksgiving. It's not the kind of thing you should bank on from a strat...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 4:55 PM
Mortgage rates were almost perfectly flat today, and have been largely unchanged since last Friday. If you were forced to predict such a thing at the ...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 11:55 AM
Existing home sales broke their extended losing streak in October, increasing 1.4 percent from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.22 ...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 9:22 AM
I used to be annoyed by the word "consolidation." It was on a short-list of market jargon words that were overused and possibly nebulous. But over t...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 8:56 AM
Do you think non-QM is going to “save your bacon?” After a non-exhaustive survey, it appears that non-QM, aka non-Agency, aka expanded credit, is runn...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 8:25 AM
Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group (ESR) upped their projection for economic growth slightly, to 3.1 percent this year , but say housi...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 8:07 AM
Mortgage rates pulled back slightly during the week ended November 16, but that did little to move mortgage applications higher. The Mortgage Bankers ...
Tue, Nov 20 2018, 6:24 PM
We've had a pretty good run recently where bond yields have been willing to at least move in the same direction at the same time during sharper stock ...
Tue, Nov 20 2018, 5:21 PM
Mortgage rates managed to maintain their lowest levels in more than a month yet again today. All this despite modest losses in underlying bond markets...
Tue, Nov 20 2018, 10:50 AM
October was another mixed but largely mediocre month for residential construction . Permits were lower both on a monthly and an annual basis, while ho...
Tue, Nov 20 2018, 9:36 AM
Despite a fairly perfect bounce yesterday, the trend-lines acting as floors in stocks and bonds have given way overnight, even if only in somewhat u...
Tue, Nov 20 2018, 9:04 AM
Here are some tech developments as we seem to be moving closer to machines running our lives, or a loan being approved instantly by reading a fingerpr...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 6:04 PM
Builder Confidence doesn't typically move markets, but today it did. For the past several month's, the NAHB's Housing Market Index (generally consider...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 5:17 PM
Freddie Mac has announced a new collaboration with a handful of rural non-profits to expand sweat equity opportunities to homeowners in several rural ...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 4:55 PM
Mortgage rates unexpectedly dropped to their lowest levels in more than a month as of last Friday. That assertion is at odds with quite a few media re...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 10:32 AM
Builder confidence took a steep dive this month, reflecting increasing news of slowing home sales and rising concerns over affordability. The National...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 9:18 AM
Thanksgiving means many things to many people: family time, a half day of work Wednesday, or a four-day weekend. To the staff and students of Johns Ho...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 9:12 AM
Happy Thanksgiving week. These can go a few different ways for bond markets with 2 main varieties standing out. Both varieties are the product of il...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 7:24 PM
We haven't heard much out of new Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida since he accepted the position, but what we heard today was good. Well, at least the ...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 6:19 PM
Mortgage rates hit their lowest levels of THE month yesterday, and the lowest levels in A month today. It's a bit of a technicality, really. As of yes...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 12:16 PM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) notes that applications for the purchase of new homes declined by 2.1 percent in October compared to the same m...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 10:22 AM
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) said on Thursday that its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMI Fund) exceeded its congressionally mandated min...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 9:24 AM
Because November 1st was a Thursday, we'll be treated to the earliest possible iteration of Thanksgiving. It's next week, by the way! Why are we talki...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 8:59 AM
Why is the housing market sluggish despite a solid U.S. economy, solid demographics, and pent-up demand? Those don’t matter if prices are out of reach...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 6:00 PM
Remember the middle of 2016 when rates managed to make it all the way back in line with all-time lows despite having almost no justification in terms ...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 5:27 PM
Fannie Mae has expanded the menu of post-disaster services it is offering to its borrowers. The new services are in addition to the up to 12 months of...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 5:11 PM
Mortgage rates hit their lowest levels of the month today! Sure, that's only 10 business days for the mortgage world, but we'll take every little vict...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 12:10 PM
It ain't going to get any easier... The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) tells us these cheery words encapsulate the attitude of responden...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 9:30 AM
Ah Brexit... You thought you'd heard the last of it back in 2016? No such luck. Actually, it is a bit lucky to be hearing about it, at least as far...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 9:01 AM
With only week until Thanksgiving there’s a lot going on – every one of these stats impacts lenders. CoreLogic tells us that there are 48,390 homes at...
